When a tree is felled, only a stump remains. A whole root system is of course attached to that stump.
In tree care, a stump left behind is also called a stump.
Depending on the type of tree and the size of the tree, such a stump grinding with a root system can still have a huge size. The stump and root system that holds the earth are extremely heavy. In addition, large trees with a taproot can be several meters deep in the ground. It really doesn't take you away just like that.
It is therefore not surprising that many people leave a tree stump standing after the tree has been felled.
Remove tree stump naturally
If the stump left behind does not immediately stand in your way and you have patience, nature will often lend you a hand. Especially if you had to cut down your tree because it was affected by a fungus.
You have probably seen a tree stump in the fall that was completely full of mushrooms or fungi. For many mushroom species, deadwood and tree stumps are a real feast. They can hardly do without. It will definitely take years, but such stumps disappear from view on their own.
By leaving a tree stump you enrich nature. However, it should be noted that not all tree species are simply eaten. An oak, beech, or birch will definitely be eaten.
To somewhat speed up the rotting process, you can make holes in the stump left behind with a drill. This gives molds and fungi a better chance to attach themselves to the stump.
It is of course not always possible, or desirable, to wait so long for the stump to disappear. Fortunately, arborists are quite capable of removing a stump.
Living on after cutting
Some stumps will just start growing again after the tree is cut. A completely new tree will not soon grow, but alder, a linden, or willow will almost certainly sprout again.
You might like that. In that case, leave the tree stump alone.
But if you are not waiting for a stump full of new shoots, then there is no other option than to have the stump removed from your garden.
What is the fastest way to remove a tree stump?
Removing a stump with a stump grinder fastest and most effective way to remove a stump is to use a stump grinder or stump grinder.
With this device, the stump is removed in no time by milling it away. Almost every tree care specialist can remove a stump for you with the stump grinder. The stump grinder saws the stump out of the ground with a sturdy and coarse circular saw.
The roots of the tree can be removed up to fifty centimeters deep with a stump grinder.
Tree stump removal costs
The cost of removing a stump is highly dependent on the size of the stump. The price for removing a stump with a stump grinder is somewhere between a few tens and one hundred and fifty euros per tree stump.
The accessibility of the stump can also be a factor in the price. Removing a tree stump in, for example, the city center of Amsterdam simply entails more costs than somewhere outside in the countryside.
This does not include the costs of cutting down and disposing of the tree.
If you have several trees felled at the same time and also want to have all stumps removed, the price per tree will be considerably lower. In such a case, it is always wise to request a clear quote in advance so that you know where you stand.
Alternative ways to remove the stump
There are many stories about the use of chemicals or salt to remove a stump. Burning a stump is also sometimes recommended as a good alternative.
All these methods are particularly harmful to the environment. In addition, they rarely work. After your attempt to remove the stump, you are living on contaminated soil. You can also be charged with committing an environmental offense.
And then we haven't even mentioned the danger you run when you set your stump on fire.
Therefore choose a real tree care specialist to remove your stump. He knows what to do with it.
Tree stump garden interior
A stump does not always have to be removed or in the way. If you think about it for a while, before you cut the tree, you will have an idea of how the stump left behind can serve as a garden interior.
Especially if you don't cut the stump too short, there are still a lot of fun things to do with it.
You could of course use the tree stump as a garden table. Put a few chairs around it and you have a beautiful seat. Who knows, maybe the tree stump is big enough to cut a bench into it.
If you are a bit handy with a saw and chisel, you could even turn the trunk left behind into a very nice work of art. There are wood artists who specialize in creating such works of art.
If you have a fireplace and want to make the logs small yourself, you could make a chopping block from the stump. There is no sturdier chopping block. In that case, make sure that the stump is not cut too close to the ground. A good working height makes chopping safer and puts less strain on your back.
Common abbreviations in English - 16 abbreviations you should know
Today we are going to learn 16 of the most common abbreviations of everyday life in the United States.
A fan of my YouTube channel has noticed that the abbreviation for pounds is lbs, and he tells me it looks like Spanish: pounds.
Why?
Well, it comes from Latin rather than Spanish, and it is also reflected in the symbol they use for the pound sterling: £.
I suppose there are many things that are still made in Europe (and by extension the United States, Canada, Australia, etc.) that are like that simply because the Romans decided to do so 2,000 years ago.
This is the story!
Well, let's look at the abbreviations.
If you prefer something more conversational, you may be interested in textspeak and internet slang, which talks about the proper abbreviations for text messages and online forums.
Here is the video, and then you can see all the common abbreviations in English (we call them abbreviations, by the way) and a little explanation of their use and meaning.
I hope you liked it. Now, we can see all of them in writing. The abbreviations are divided into categories: street types, titles, units of measurement, etc.
Common abbreviations for streets and more
Ave = Avenue (avenue)
St = Street (street)
Blvd = Boulevard (boulevard)
Rd = Road (street or path, rather in the field)
Titles for people
Dr = Doctor (used for doctors and people with a doctorate)
Mr = Mister (honorary title for a man)
Mrs = Missus (a married woman or of a certain age)
Miss ... It has no abbreviation. Used for miss: a young or unmarried woman.
Ms = a woman indifferent to her marital status. It is not an abbreviation for anything, but it is written as if it were.
Common abbreviations for units of measure and distance
In the United States, we don't use a lot of kilos or centimeters or kilometers. So we have our own system of measuring things, which is somewhat more complex. But hey, we are used to it.
oz = ounces
lbs = pounds (pounds)
ft = feet (feet. also in the singular, foot)
in = inches (inches)
yds = yards (no idea ... a yard is three feet, slightly less than one meter)
mi = thousands (miles)
no = number (number)
And also… ambiguous abbreviations
St = We saw it as “street”, but it can also be Saint.
Dr = We saw it as a Doctor, but it can also be a drive (another type of street)
Here the position in the sentence tells us the meaning.
He moved to St Paul. (Saint Paul.)
He lives on Washington St. (Washington Street.)
To put points or not to put points?
The only thing it says about that in Practical English Usage is that in British English they are written without a period and in American English, it is typical to put periods.
On the other hand, it seems to me that the titles in American English would be more appropriate, but something like oz I do not see it with a point.
In any case, don't worry. Put it on or not, most likely no one will notice.
You should also mention that when the abbreviation is a title or part of a proper name, it should be capitalized.
So: Go down the street and it's on your left. (An abbreviation would not be used in such a sentence and it is lowercase because it is not a proper noun.)
But: The post office is on Lincoln St, next to the town hall. (There St. is part of the proper name and is capitalized.
Click here for more on capital letters and when to use them.
Acronyms in English - acronyms
Another topic is acronyms in English - acronyms.
Acronyms are formed from the first letters of various words. They are usually written in uppercase and without periods.
the FBI = the Federal Bureau of Investigation
the UN = the United Nations
the WHO = the World Health Organization
NAFTA = the North American Free Trade Agreement
the USA = the United States of America
the EU = the European Union
We also have acronyms for common expressions. The acronym should be capitalized, technically, but anything goes in texting.
Here are some examples ...
BTW = by the way
ETA = estimated time of arrival
DIY = do it yourself
ASAP = as soon as possible
Etc.
Some acronyms are pronounced like a word (like NAFTA), and others are pronounced letter by letter. Listen and you will learn ...
Note that some acronyms have the same letters as in Spanish but in a different order.
This is due to the difference that in English we put the adjective before the noun, while in Spanish it goes after it.
There are many types of glutinous rice from countries around the world, including Thailand, China, and Japan. For this recipe, look for Thai glutinous rice or Chinese glutinous rice, sometimes labeled "sweet rice" or "glutinous rice." "While the grain has a few different names, they are all the same.
Sticky rice is traditionally steamed, but did you know you can prepare it too? sticky rice in your rice cooker with delicious results? Cooking sticky rice in your rice cooker reduces steps and is so quick and easy to make, you'll find yourself enjoying sticky rice more often.
Glutinous rice is great when served with stir-fries, curries, or any dish with a delicious sauce. Also great for desserts like sticky rice with mango. If you don't have a rice cooker, you can make your sticky rice in a pot on the stove.
You may also be interested to know about the following recipe khao neeo mamuang
ingredients
2 cups Thai sticky rice also called sweet or glutinous rice
2 1/2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Steps to do it
1. Gather the ingredients.
2. Put sticky rice in your rice cooker.
3. Add the water and stir.
4. Let the rice rest for at least 40 minutes and up to 4 hours. Sticky rice has a tough outer shell that must be softened for the best texture.
5. Add the salt and stir once more. Turn on your rice cooker .
6. When your rice cooker turns off, let the rice rest for at least 5 more minutes. Serve and enjoy!
Advice
Sticky rice will get stickier the longer it stays, so if you want it really sticky, make it ahead of time.
If you find that the rice is too sticky for your taste, skip the soaking of the rice. Although soaking rice before cooking is common, eliminating this step will result in more al dente texture - while this may not be traditional, it may be more palatable.
How to store and freeze
Store cooked sticky rice in your refrigerator and try to consume it within 2 to 3 days.
To freeze sticky rice, transfer portions to airtight containers or zip-top freezer bags. Freeze for up to 2 months.
What is the difference between white rice and glutinous rice?
The main difference between regular white rice and sticky rice is there in the name; the latter has a sticky and sticky texture. While the white rice had individually textured grains, the sticky rice sticks together and is great for absorbing both sweet and savory sauces. It also requires soaking before cooking - white rice does not.
What is the difference between glutinous rice and sweet rice?
Glutinous rice goes by a few names, which makes it confusing when visiting the grocery store or reading a recipe. It is often referred to as sweet rice thanks to its many applications in sweet dishes. Whether labeled glutinous rice, Thai glutinous rice, sweet rice, or glutinous rice, it is all the same type of rice and will work great for this recipe.
How to use sticky rice
Glutinous rice can be used in a variety of dishes, including desserts, stir-fries, and meatballs. Here are some ideas :
Use sticky rice to make a layer cake dessert or the classic Thai favorite mango rice .
Make sticky rice dumplings with prepared sticky rice, chicken, and seasonings.
Combine 1 1/2 cups of sticky rice leftover from a day with 1 beaten egg and salt, to taste. Heat a few tablespoons of vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat. Shape into patties with the rice mixture and fry until hot and golden brown on both sides.
Roof leaks: how to diagnose them? How to avoid water damage caused by a leak on the cover? To which roofer to entrust the renovation of his roof and at what price?
Laurent, from Couvreurs Occitans, gives us his three expert tips for maintaining his roof and repairing it at the right price in the event of a leak.
Tip n ° 1: make a roofing diagnosis
In the event of a roof leak, if it is raining in the house, it is first necessary to carry out a diagnosis to identify where the problem comes from. The water leak can come from a recurring problem (severe thunderstorms, storms, bad weather) which causes water to seep into the roof. But it can be due to the aging of the roofing or of certain elements of the free roof inspection san antonio ( Velux which leaks, joinery in bad condition, broken or cracked tile, gutter …). The leak must therefore first be diagnosed by a qualified structural and roofing professional.
The diagnosis is free since it is the duty of the carpenter-roofer to make an inventory. To calculate the number of roof repairs, he will also provide a free estimate. You can immediately request your quote online to find a qualified craftsman near you. If necessary, the roofer can carry out an emergency intervention to avoid water damage or degradation of your attic.
Tip 2: call your insurance in the event of a roof leak
If the roof leak causes water damage, the damage may be covered by your insurance company. Calling your insurer should therefore be a reflex in the event of water infiltration from the roof. But beware: the amount of work is limited! If your roof, blanket, or frame is in poor condition, insurance will not finance a brand new roof! Indeed, the waterproofing of the roof is the responsibility of the owner. It is, therefore, necessary to have your roof maintained regularly ( roof cleaning, defoaming, water repellent treatment.) and if possible by a qualified craftsman. Regularly carry out small repairs on cracked or damaged tiles and slates. This will prevent you from having to completely redo your roof.
Tip 3: know the life expectancy of your roof
The different types of roofs do not age in the same way ( terracotta tile, natural slate, green roof, roof terrace, etc.).
The condition of the roof also depends on the period of construction of the roof. A lot of construction work took place in the 70s and 80s, the tile manufacturers were less demanding on the quality of the materials used… In general, if we redo our roof today, it has a lifespan of 50 at 60 years old. The tiles are guaranteed for a minimum of 30 years.
In all cases, major roof renovations should be avoided. if the cover reaches the end of its life. This is why you have to be able to trust a roofing craftsman, who can honestly guide you in your roof repair work. You must contact a roof replacement san antonio company labeled RGE (Recognized Guarantor of the Environment) to be able to benefit from aid for energy renovation.
The price of a roof varies according to the work to be done: gutters, structural treatment, replacement of certain structural elements, type of roofing material (tiles, slates, etc.). Between the removal of the old roof, the refitting with an under-roof screen or waterproofing membrane, the starting price is100 euros per m² to redo a roof. Or 12,000 euros for a house of 120 m².
If we add roof insulation (not attic insulation), that is to say, sarking panels, the price of the roof renovation starts at 180 euros per m².
Regardless of whether you live with your family or alone, the living room is a very important space. It is the room where your family and visitors spend pleasant moments.
In order for your living room to function according to your needs, it is very important that you choose furniture that truly provides a cozy and pleasant appearance, and that at the same time, resists the damage and wear of every day.
TAKE MEASUREMENTS
To take the measurements you need a tape measure, a normal meter, or a folding rule to measure the width and length of your room. You should also measure any wall niches or other recessed spaces.
MAKE A PLAN
You can use graph paper although you can also make the sketch on printing paper or on a notebook sheet. You need to determine how much space you can leave for the furniture and sketch out some of the different ways that the furniture in bd can be placed. Remember, you have to leave at least one meter of free space between the furniture so that you can combine without tripping.
CHECK THE DOORS
To avoid mishaps at the time of delivery of the furniture, it is essential that you measure the width of the doors. Never buy furniture that you cannot put in your house.
PREPARE YOUR ROOM
Once you have determined the space that you should leave for the furniture and where you have to place it, you proceed to mark the positions on the floor so that you have a better visual aid. Attach sheets of newspaper or use masking tape.
THINK ABOUT HOW THE ROOM WILL BE USED
If your living room is going to be a space where your family spends comfortable moments daily, you have to place strong furniture that is made of a material that resists stains, especially if you have small children. But, if you are only going to use the room to entertain occasional guests, I recommend you choose more fragile pieces made of delicate fabrics.
NOTICE THE NATURAL ARCHITECTURE OF THE ROOM
Some rooms have integrated elements that will help you determine the type of furniture that is best varied in your room. For example, if your living room has a nice rustic fireplace, a cabin-like decor will be the best option over totally modern furniture. The totally modern furniture is perfect for a living room of an apartment with a view of the city.
START WITH THE BASICS
Most of the rooms have an armchair, a sofa, a side table, and a coffee table. So, you should look for these items first before adding additional pieces like ottomans or more tables.
BUY FURNITURE THAT IS INVESTMENTS
I recommend that you look for furniture that is sturdy with a strong wooden frame and steel springs. Be careful, good quality furniture is more expensive, but it tends to resist and last longer.
CHOOSE FURNITURE THAT IS MADE OF A GOOD QUALITY, STAIN RESISTANT MATERIAL
High-quality and luxurious materials will make you feel more relaxed and comfortable. They even last longer than cheap materials. A resistant material is essential for the decoration of rooms since these spaces are the most used for meetings with family or friends.
To make a good lead scoring, the first thing we have to do is think about the ideal customer profile ( ICP - Ideal Customer Profile ) that we want to achieve and define the allocation of points based on what we value the most. The objective of getting leads is usually to get more customers, more sales, and in this way make your company grow in terms of turnover. In this sense, not all leads have the same value. Those for which it is more feasible in the future to close a sale will have more value. And those leads that being probable the closing of a sale the amount of this is higher will have more value. We want the sales team to focus their efforts on the best leads, right?
Doing good lead scoring allows us to classify the leads based on their score and thus prioritize the treatment of the leads with the highest score. The criteria for good lead scoring are usually classified into two groups, a group that takes into account the demographic characteristics of the lead and another group of criteria that takes into account the behavior of this lead in relation to the interaction with our digital assets ( website, blog, content, etc.). In this article, I explain these criteria and how to combine them to give an overall score to the lead.
What is Lead Scoring?
You probably already know what lead scoring is, but just in case, I'll briefly explain what it is: lead scoring is a technique that allows assigning a score to a lead depending on some criteria so that if we have 100 leads the system will calculate the score for each of them, with the highest score being the best in terms of the type of lead we want and the lowest score being the worst in terms of the type of lead we want (that is, they will be leads that meet very few or none of the conditions we want). Lead scoring translated into Spanish would be something like the score of contact or prospect.
Why do I have to Lead Scoring?
Another interesting aspect that you may be wondering is why should your company implement a lead scoring system, right? The answer is very simple if your company generates a high volume of leads per month, it is interesting to do lead scoring to be able to classify all the MCA leads and order them from best to worst, in terms of quality. And in this way, it allows you to focus your company's efforts on the highest quality leads, and this refers to both the efforts of the marketing department and the sales department. Being clear, your company is not interested in dedicating efforts to a poor quality lead, to a lead that by analyzing its characteristics you can see that you will not be able to close any sale with it.
Said like this it may sound a bit frivolous but let me remind you of the scenario: your company decides to invest money, effort, and time in capturing leads, in capturing contact details of people potentially capable of buying your services or products. In this sense, you are interested in dedicating efforts to those leads of the highest quality, those who are more predisposed towards the objective pursued by your company.
From how many leads do I have to implement a Lead Scoring system?
This is quite relative, the criteria that you have to apply is the volume of leads that enter per month in relation to the number of people dedicated to the sales process. I'll explain it to you with an example that is surely better understood. Imagine that every month the marketing department gets 100 leads (taking the average it would be between 3 and 4 leads obtained per day). Imagine that the sales team consists of 3 people. In this scenario, as you can see, a lead scoring system would not be much needed. If there is much better, but if it is not implemented it would not be very serious either since with 3 people pending to sell and entering 3-4 leads per day they can look at them with a magnifying glass, they can look for these people on Linkedin, see for which companies they work, what position have, etc. and decide if the sales process is worth the effort.
Now imagine that instead of 100 leads per month your company generates 600 leads per month (taking the average, it would be about 20 leads per day). In this case, analyzing the leads one by one to see if it is worth treating them is more complicated. And it gets worse day by day as they accumulate. Think that if a lead is of quality and sales decides to start the process, they will have a treatment time (typically, they will make calls to contact this person, they will try to organize a meeting, they will have to follow up, etc.). Depending on the time that the sales process requires, what will happen is that the waiting list of leads to be dealt with will grow. Imagine that one day the sales team has 80 leads pending to deal with.
Criteria for Lead Scoring
The criteria for lead scoring are usually classified into two broad categories:
Demographic criteria These are all those criteria for assigning points based on attributes or characteristics of the lead, the person in question, and their environment, such as the characteristics of the company they work for.
Criteria according to behavior: these are all those criteria based on the behavior of the lead in relation to interaction with your company, either with the use of your website, blog, downloading content, attending webinars, etc.
Below I explain each of these lead scoring criteria in detail.
1. Demographic criteria for Lead Scoring
The demographic criteria for lead scoring have to do with the characteristics of the lead and his environment, the attributes he has as a professional. Imagine that our ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) is the CFO of a large company. In this case, we would define criteria so that we would give a lead many points if the position he or she has is a financial director and is also a large company. On the contrary, imagine another person from the same company whose position is "Sales Director", in this case even though this lead is from the same company, this MCA leads would have a lower score because the position of this lead is not the one we want (financial director), but another and therefore we would not assign so many points for this reason (if we decide to assign it).
Below I explain several attributes of a lead that are usually considered when making lead scoring:
Position of the person: this is undoubtedly one of the most important attributes to score. Being clear about who is our ideal buyer (buyer persona) we have to give more points to those leads who hold the position we want. It is possible that we have several positions that interest us, some being better than others. In this case, we can apply a range of scores: if you have position A we assign 10 points if you have position B we assign 8 points if you have position C we assign 6 points, etc.
Company name: the company where the person (lead) works is another key aspect for lead scoring. If we sell a Software As A Service (SaaS) that costs € 4,000 per month, we already know that very small company will not be able to afford this software and therefore, even if they want this service a lot, they will not be able to afford it. Now, for the name itself of the company without more, it is difficult to assign points since it is very likely that the name does not tell us anything about the characteristics of the company. To solve this aspect, an external company rating system can be used. Or it can be done manually, by human inspection.
A number of company employees: this is one of the fields that is usually included in the content download form (ebook, webinar, etc.) in order to get an idea of how big the company you work for is this lead and thus be able to automatically assign points. In the previous example, if the company has more than 1,000 employees we would give it many points since it could buy our service, and on the other hand, a company that has between 1 and 10 workers would not give it points, we could even consider giving negative points.
Industry: The industry in which a company operates is usually very important in terms of the sales process. For example, imagine that we know that 40% of our clients are from the "Insurance" industry, 15% are from the banking industry, and so on. In this case, we could define 10 points if the company operates in the insurance industry, 8 points if it operates in the banking industry, etc.
Country: is the country where the lead's company belongs to the sales process important? surely yes. For example, imagine that our company is targeting the northern European market, but has 3 specific countries as a priority. In this case, a scoring scale could be defined according to the country (country A -> 10 points, country B, 8 points, country C -> 6 points…).
These are usually the most common fields that are requested in a form for lead nurturing purposes, and they usually apply to any company. Now, for a specific company, we can think about what additional attributes the lead may have that has a lot of value for us.
For example, imagine that we sell a Software As A Service (SaaS) that serves to perform a complementary function to the accounting software. And imagine that we know that if the company has a financial system like SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, or Sage, the probability that they will buy from us is much higher. And on the other hand, we know that if they don't have any ERP up and running (and they manage the accounting with Excel) it is very unlikely that they will buy from us. Well, in this scenario we could introduce the question in the content download form of the type: What system does your company use? And give as options: SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, Sage, and Excel. And depending on what the user (lead) indicates, we will assign more or fewer points.
2. Behavioral criteria for Lead Scoring
The behavioral criteria for lead scoring have to do with the lead's activity in relation to our company. Without forgetting the final objective that we pursue, which is to sell, a priori we are more interested in a lead that shows a lot of interest in our company than a user who shows practically no interest, right? Well, the criteria for assigning points based on behavior try to reward Live transfer leads who have a "desired" behavior, who show a lot of interest.
For example, imagine that based on the experience we know that the user is much more receptive if we know that they have visited certain key pages of our website, such as the service/product description page, the prices page, and the sales page. request demo. In this case, we could give several points if the above is fulfilled.
Here are some ideas of user behaviors based on which we could assign a scoring criterion :
Key pages that have visited: what we said before, a user who visits the home page and leaves does not have the same value in terms of behavior, as not a user who sees the home page, the service page, the price page, and the contact page (even if you do not fill in the form).
Type of request made by the user: generally the user visits our website and has a "passive" behavior, consults pages, reads articles from our blog, etc. But it takes time to contact or request a demonstration of our product. But there comes a day that the user can carry out any of the actions that we are suggesting, such as requesting a demo or requesting a budget. In these cases, we should give a high score since the user is expressing his interest in our service/product.
Content downloads: we could assign more or fewer points depending on the content that is downloaded, both by the type of content and by the quantity. For example, if the user downloads a guide on a very "top of the funnel" topic, it would have a relatively low value, and on the other hand, if the user downloads a guide like "the definitive guide to select a Software As A Service of what we sell »Then this would have to have much more value because the purchase intention it denotes is much higher.
Frequency of website visits: with this aspect, we could take into account if you are a user who regularly visits our website/blog or not; here the idea would be to give more points to the lead that shows a higher «engagement».
% of interaction with our emails: in a lead nurturing strategy we are going to send several emails to the user based on their interests and other criteria. Well, we may be interested in measuring the user's response to our emails and assigning a score based on their behavior.
Note that all this is an "approximation" to reality, that is, we establish scoring criteria based on behavior that denotes an interest, now this interest is our assumption. Let me explain, we can think that if the user sees certain key pages they have shown some interest and assign them some points, but the reality might not be so, that is, the user would have visited these pages but this does not have to mean that they are interested. That said, statistically, a good definition of criteria and scoring scales should help us build a lead ranking based on their score and ultimately should help us convert more leads into sales.
How to calculate the score of a lead?
Option 1: add points
From my point of view, the definition of the scoring criteria and the number of points that are awarded for meeting a specific criterion is still a convention of each company. Company A can decide that if a lead has a "CFO" position they will assign 5 points and Company B can decide to assign 10 points. The important thing for me is to calibrate the score well for various scenarios in relative terms, that is, in the case of company A if the lead has the desired position (financial director) we assign 5 points and if he has a less desired position ( Sales Director) we only assigned 1 point. And similarly, for company B if the lead has the desired position we assign him 10 points and if he has a less desired position (Sales Director) we only assign him 2 points.
That said, calculating the score for a lead would seem as trivial as adding up all the points derived from evaluating all the conditions the lead meets, right? Well, I have seen this implementation in a company but for me, I do not think it is the most convenient. I explain. I recommend that you do not add the score for the demographic criteria with the score for the behavior criteria. Why? Imagine a lead with a very bad demographic score comes in. This would mean that the lead does not meet the profile of a potential buyer, and therefore very likely it will not be possible to sell anything. Now imagine that this lead shows a lot of interest, and downloads many ebooks, attends various webinars, visits key web pages, etc.
Therefore, the most reasonable option would be to add up all the points that have to do with the demographic criteria. And establishing a minimum from which the lead is considered interesting is considered "qualified" from a marketing point of view. And on the other hand add the score for behavior, and establish the minimum value that we consider that the lead has shown interest or is "hot".
Option 2: assign qualification based on conditions
Of the two blocks of criteria, note that one indicates how good a lead is simply for being who he is, for having the position he has, for working in the company he works, etc. And the other group of criteria indicates how well this lead behaves on our website, according to what it has value for us. In this sense, imagine that you have a very good lead, with very good attributes (position, company size, etc.). Couldn't we classify this lead to 5 levels based on how good it is? This is:
Lead type A -> very well, it meets all the requirements we want.
Type B Lead -> well, it meets many of the conditions but not 100% in some of them. For example, imagine a lead that meets everything but the size of the company. Imagine that we want companies with more than 500 workers and the lead in question works in a company that has 300 workers.
Type C lead -> regular
Type D lead -> low quality
The lead of type E -> qualifies narrowly, but of very low quality.
The lead of type F -> discarded due to poor quality (not meet any conditions)
With this method, the relevant programming could be created to evaluate conditions and, depending on the result, label the lead with a letter "A", "B", "C", or whatever. This makes it more intuitive when dealing with leads, I think, a type "A" lead is the best in terms of quality, and type E represents a person who meets very few of the requirements of our buyer persona.
We should also consider what happens when we do not have all the attributes of this lead in order to evaluate the score. In these cases, we would have to assign a state that indicates "indeterminacy" until we have all the attributes that we need. What is usually done is lead nurturing techniques so that the lead re-downloads other content and in the form you see, new fields are added and fields for which we already have the data are hidden, this is done with a technique called «progressive profiling », but hey, this already escapes from this article (if you are very interested, and your opinion interests me, please just let me know ).
How is lead scoring implemented?
Well, you may have already realized that implementing lead scoring techniques requires first to have very clear ideas, and second, to have some advanced lead management tool. There are dozens of tools for managing leads and the most advanced ones allow lead scoring. Everything that I have explained previously must be programmed in a tool of this type so that it assigns the points as we want. There are some of these tools that assign points by default, be careful with this, because it is the standard criteria of the tool and perhaps for your company it is convenient to apply another.
Some of the tools for lead scoring are Hubspot ( www.hubspot.com, one of the best), Marketo (very good, but for very large companies), Active Campaign (similar to Hubspot but with fewer features and cheaper. Explaining these lead management tools would also provide for a new article.
Let's go through the menu by menu, point by point of your camera to learn more about what we talked about in " Basic Tips for Beginning Photographers ".
In short, shoot RAW and read the instruction manual (which I don't usually do either) to learn how to operate your camera with your eyes closed and make the most of all those functions that we pay for and many do not get to use or understand.
Let's take a look at the first menu of an entry-level SLR camera like the Canon 600D. The menus are very similar between some ranges and others, so you will surely find these options in yours. I'll go point by point, stopping at the most important ones and configuring them with the recommended options.
JPG (gives us the option to select the megapixels that will be used in each shot) or RAW, my recommended option. On some cameras it allows you to select lossless or compressed RAW, but since I want the highest quality and flexibility possible, I always choose losslessly.
jpg-o-raw
Choose between JPG or RAW
Pros of shooting RAW
The RAW captures much more information than the JPG that we can later recover in the development.
No compressions.
No loss of quality.
A flexible file will be created when editing the photograph, for example, you can play with the shadows and lights as long as you have exposed the scene well.
Greater control over your final image
You will be able to solve errors after shooting, in digital development. I do not recommend having this philosophy, as usual, you run the risk of not preparing the details and adjustments of your photography well because you know that later you can fix it and it will not always be like that. You can't imagine the time and satisfaction you gain by coming home with homework well done.
"Disadvantages" in quotes
Your camera's processor will suffer in burst mode, as a RAW file is heavier and will not be able to shoot at the same speed as a JPG. For example, if your JPG camera shoots 6 photos per second in RAW it will shoot 3.
You will need more space on your memory card
You will have to develop your photograph later in programs like Lightroom, since the image will come out flat in terms of colors, contrasts, sharpness, etc.
As you can see, the cons from my point of view are quite ridiculous. If you use burst mode a lot because you dedicate yourself to action or wildlife photography, you will surely end up buying a Canon 7d type camera with bursts of up to 10 frames per second, which with the release of its older sister, the Canon 7D Mark II, now has an interesting price.
Over time you will have several large-capacity memory cards and finally, you will also like to edit your photos to get a faithful capture or a more creative development.
It will allow you to activate or deactivate the beep that indicates that the camera has focused on the point you have selected. Personally, I like to take it deactivated, I go more unnoticed while practicing street photography, in nature, I am less noisy and more relaxed, I don't get along very well with beeps
Tip: When focusing automatically, notice how the focus points you see through the viewfinder light up red to warn you that your selection is already in focus. If you get used to focusing through the focus points, you can dispense with the audible warning, to later rely on your eye and use manual focus. In which cases it will always be more reliable than autofocus, such as focusing on poorly lit areas where autofocus tends to go haywire.
Shoot without card
I urgently recommend that you disable this option. Its function is to notify you when you shoot and you do not have a memory card inserted. If you don't turn it off, it will allow you to shoot until you realize that the most important thing is missing.
I remember at the beginning of project 365, one day I went out to photograph about 60km from home, very excited. I didn't have much time, so as soon as I arrived I quickly chose the angle, secured the tripod, and mounted the lens I was going to use. When I pressed the shutter button for the first time, I verified thanks to this option that I had left the card inserted in the computer the day before. You can imagine my face at that moment, but it would have been worse to be cold, to get even more excited about the result, and then not take anything home.
The only solution was to have a coffee watching the sunset that I went to photograph with a good croissant, the food in these cases lifts my spirits. Since that day I carry an emergency memory card in my wallet and the rest in my backpack.
Image review
The amount of time the photo will be displayed on your LCD screen right after it is taken. You can deactivate it, choose the seconds or hold it on the screen until you press a button.
Peripheral illumination correction
Corrects vignetted or darkened edges. There are lenses of not very good quality that is very open diaphragms can vignetting, activating this option will reduce this vignetting. These types of problems can be solved manually by closing the diaphragm more to points like f8 or f11, where most lenses give their maximum performance ( sweet spot ). I always have it deactivated, but if you have noticed this problem in your images it is better to activate it.
Red-eye reduction
This option will fire a flash or several short flashes before taking the picture, in order to close the pupils and avoid red eyes, a problem that occurs in poorly lit places.
Tip: If you want to solve it without resorting to this option, tell the person to be photographed to look at an intense light source first.
Flash control
We can activate and deactivate the flash, choose the type of E-TTL metering (measure ambient light to configure the correct flash power together with your selected settings), adjust the built-in or external flash if it exists.
Setting up a reflex camera
Let's analyze the second menu of a Canon camera I will go point by point so that you can understand all the options and know what you activate or not.
Even if you use Nikon or another brand, the options are the same after all.
canon-menu
Canon camera menu
Comp. Exp./AEB:
This option is very interesting, especially for HDR lovers. If you configure it, the camera will allow you to take 3 shots with different exposures, following the order of exposure, standard, low exposure, and high exposure. That is, in the case of the example, the first shot would be with the center meter exposure 0, the second photo underexposed with -2, and the third with the overexposure of +2.
In this menu you can move the meters at will, they do not always have to be these values. I recommend disabling it if it is not going to be used for creative purposes.
Automatic Brightness:
This parameter automatically corrects photos that are dark or low-contrast. The best thing is that from the beginning you get used to using manual mode and correcting these problems on the spot, it is much more reliable than doing it automatically. Remember to shoot in RAW mode and you will be able to correct the brightness yourself in your development program as we have done in the entries « improve photos with Lightroom «.
Imagine that for whatever reason you wanted a photograph in dim light or very bright and the camera corrects it automatically, what grace it would make me return home and not have the photograph I was looking for.
Measurement mode:
You must know the four modes that are presented to us, they are important options that will make you achieve success in difficult lighting situations.
Evaluative metering: It is the most automatic mode for beginner users, it measures the light in the scene in a general way, so you do not have to worry about measuring in dark or light areas.
Partial measurement: Measure in the center of the image as you can see in the second icon. It is ideal for backlights or areas with strong contrasts.
Spot metering: My favorite, it measures the light exactly at the point where you indicate it. From the value marked by the exposure meter, you will assess whether you need more light or not. My recommendation is the fastest and most effective, do not be afraid of trial and error, it really is how you really learn.
Center-weighted metering: This option measures the light in the center and then averages the rest of the image.
point-measurement
Metering modes in photography
Custom WB:
Allows you to manually adjust the white balance. In a session in which you are not going to move from the site or the lighting is going to change, perform a correct white balance with a gray card or color card and use this option to achieve a reliable color in the rest of the shots.
Personally, I do not usually perform the white balance except on rare occasions that I need the exact colors to reality, this is one of those "problems" that are solved well in the development and without losing quality, as long as you have shot in clear RAW.
Scroll / Sec. WB:
Used to correct the white balance. Upon entering you will see a graph with a box that you can move to the position B = blue, A = amber, M = Magenta, and G = green. Depending on the dominants and your needs, move the square until you get the color you are looking for.
Color space:
This option is a bit complicated and everyone usually has their own vision. After researching on the subject I give you a quick summary of my conclusion:
AdobeRGB, captures more colors than sRGB, the monitors of 95% of those who will see your photos are not capable of reproducing all the colors of AdobeRGB, and if you edit a photograph taken in AdobeRGB on a monitor that is not capable of displaying all the colors when printing there will be colors that will not come out correctly.
My recommendation: use AdobeRGB and before publishing or printing the photo convert to sRGB and edit it with that profile. This way you make sure you have a digital negative with all the possible information in case one day that photograph is worth millions or you buy a good monitor that reproduces all colors. With the sRGB profile, you will upload an image to the network with the colors most similar to those you see on the screen.
If you still prefer to skip the step of converting the image to see, you think that you will never take a super photo or you only use your camera to photograph your vacations, choose it as the color space.
IMPORTANT: Another of the key points of the entire menu.
If you want to have more flexible control over your videos to edit them with total flexibility, my recommendation is that you choose the Neutral mode and configure its parameters as in the image.
This configuration runs all over the internet and is the most used to get an image as flat as possible and thus be able to edit the video to your liking without loss of quality.
